ºÚÁÏÉç

Who was ºÚÁÏÉç?

ºÚÁÏÉç was a writer, gardener and designer. When she was 47, ºÚÁÏÉç was diagnosed with breast cancer and five years later, in May 1993, on a visit to the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh, she was told that it had returned.

After hearing this, ºÚÁÏÉç and her husband Charles Jencks were moved to a windowless corridor where they were left to process the news. They discussed the need for somewhere 'better' for people with cancer to go, outside of but nearby to the hospital.

ºÚÁÏÉç and Charles designed the blueprint for the centres together, enlisting the help of some of their friends from the architectural world. The first ºÚÁÏÉç opened in Edinburgh in 1996, and we now have centres across the UK and even some abroad.

Read more about ºÚÁÏÉç and Charles, our founders

Above all what matters is not to lose the joy of living in the fear of dying.

ºÚÁÏÉç’s idea

ºÚÁÏÉç felt that her diagnosis and treatment was as hard on her family as it was on her, so she created a new type of support, a centre that could make the experience of cancer more manageable for everyone.

She believed that with encouragement to become actively involved in treatment, and with the right information and support, people could change the way they live with cancer.

ºÚÁÏÉç also wanted to bring people together in a calm and friendly space that would help them to find comfort in the experiences of others.

ºÚÁÏÉç died shortly before the first centre opened, at the Western General Hospital – but with the support of Charles, and her medical team, including her cancer nurse Laura Lee (now ºÚÁÏÉç’s CEO), her vision lives on.

Growing our support

ºÚÁÏÉç has now grown into a network of centres built beside NHS hospitals across the UK.

Our centres help people to take back control when cancer turns life upside down, with professional support for anything from treatment side effects to money worries.

We also have centres abroad and plan to extend our support to have 30 centres open in the UK by 2022.

Our timeline

• 1988 – ºÚÁÏÉç is first diagnosed with breast cancer
• 1993 – ºÚÁÏÉç’s breast cancer returns
• 1994 – ºÚÁÏÉç writes ‘A view from the front line’ (a publication about her experience)
• 1994 – ºÚÁÏÉç and her oncology nurse Laura Lee develop early plans for a ‘Cancer Caring Centre'
• 1995 – Architect Richard Murphy produces a plan to convert a stable building at Western General Hospital in Edinburgh
• 1995 – On 8 July, ºÚÁÏÉç dies. The blueprints for what would become the very first ºÚÁÏÉç’s centre were on her hospital bed
• 1996 – ºÚÁÏÉç’s Edinburgh opens
• 2000 – An extension to ºÚÁÏÉç Edinburgh is opened
• 2002 – ºÚÁÏÉç’s Glasgow opens
• 2003 – ºÚÁÏÉç’s Dundee opens
• 2005 – ºÚÁÏÉç’s Highlands opens
• 2006 – ºÚÁÏÉç’s Fife opens
• 2008 – Her Majesty The Queen becomes ºÚÁÏÉç President. ºÚÁÏÉç West London opens
• 2010 – ºÚÁÏÉç’s Cheltenham and Glasgow Gartnnavel opens
• 2011 – ºÚÁÏÉç’s Nottingham and ºÚÁÏÉç’s Swansea open
• 2012 – ºÚÁÏÉç’s Cambridge (interim) opens, formed following a merger with Wallace Cancer Care and ºÚÁÏÉç Hong Kong opens
• 2013 – ºÚÁÏÉç’s Aberdeen, ºÚÁÏÉç Newcastle and ºÚÁÏÉç Oxford open
• 2014 - ºÚÁÏÉç’s Lanarkshire and ºÚÁÏÉç’s Wirral (interim) open
• 2016 – ºÚÁÏÉç’s Manchester, ºÚÁÏÉç’s Tokyo and ºÚÁÏÉç’s at the Royal Free (interim) open. The centre at the Royal Free is formed following a merger with the Cancerkin charity
• 2017 – ºÚÁÏÉç’s Forth Valley, ºÚÁÏÉç’s Oldham and ºÚÁÏÉç’s Barts open
• 2018 – ºÚÁÏÉç Edinburgh second extension opens
• 2019 – ºÚÁÏÉç’s Cardiff and Kálida Barcelona open
• 2019 – Laura Lee awarded DBE
• 2020 – ºÚÁÏÉç’s Leeds and ºÚÁÏÉç’s at the Royal Marsden officially open
• 2021 – ºÚÁÏÉç Southampton and ºÚÁÏÉç Wirral opens
• 2023 – ºÚÁÏÉç at the Royal Free opens

Centres in development

• ºÚÁÏÉç’s Northampton
• ºÚÁÏÉç Coventry
• ºÚÁÏÉç’s Norway 
• ºÚÁÏÉç’s Netherlands
• ºÚÁÏÉç Bristol
• ºÚÁÏÉç Preston